Herbert to DTM rumour is fiction.

Johnny Herbert will not be racing in the German Touring Car championship this year according to sources close to the Englishman.

Herbert who left the Jaguar Formula One team last year and who had hoped to race in the Fed-Ex CART championship in 2001 is looking more and more likely to sit the year.

The rumour Herbert was DTM bound emerged when it was reported he had been seen talking to press spokesman Uwe Baldes and marketing boss Joerg Schrott of Team Opel, but the story has since been dismissed and according to our sources the Englishman was not even in Germany when the reported sighting took place.

Last year Opel entered eight cars in the DTM series and this year plans to do the same. So far the Russelsheim company has signed four drivers - Manuel Reuter, Joachim Winkelhock, Timo Scheider and Steffen Schulz, with long-time team members Eric Helary and Michael Bartels waiting to be confirmed.

ALMS regular Karl Wendlinger remains in the frame, however, having been rumoured as a possible Opel man at the same time as Herbert. The Austrian is also waiting to hear whether he will be involved in ORECA Chrysler's ALMS sportscar programme in 2001.